We found room in our busy development schedule for a re-visit of the B8 A4 platform. We were able to put the finishing touches on our B8 A4 K04 ECU Tuning Solution and provide updated file revisions for our original Stage 1 / 2 / 2+ calibrations.

We’ve already rolled this new software out for for testing with early adopters and thanks to our dealer in Malaysia we were able to verify this file produces the same results for our customers that we found in our internal testing. Mega Manic’s customer put up an impressive 307 horsepower & 420 Nm of torque at all 4 wheels! (Dyno Chart)

Driver Motorsport is now in the process of TTE420 ECU Tuning Development!

TheTurboEngineers and their famed TTE420 has taken the VAG tuning scene by storm, creating a popular request from both our dealer network and customer base to provide a TTE420 ECU Tuning solution.

Thanks to our Australian dealer Dub Addiction, we were able to get first hand experience with the TTE420 Turbo. Using our vast experience with K04 hybrid turbochargers and the data we’ve collected from the TTE420 we can confidently state the TTE420 is the best option available. The TTE420 has shown to be capable of delivering more air flow, while producing less backpressure and lower exhaust gas temperatures than it’s competitors we’ve worked with. Due to this, Driver Motorsport‘s future development with uprated VAG turbochargers will be done with TheTurboEngineers products.

In the process of developing the TTE420 file, we revisited our original LO400 calibration and applied the new techniques to enhance power output and features (Results below). We will continue to offer support for Loba Motorsport products such as the LO400 turbo, however in the future our development resources will be shifted over to TheTurboEngineer’s product line. For existing customers, both the TTE420 and LO400 turbo require separate files and a re-flash, they are not interchangeable.

Dyno Charts

*Note – Dyno shown above is representative only of the Lo400 turbo, TTE420 dyno results are still forthcoming. Based off of preliminary data we expect the TTE420 file to exceed the output of the Lo400.*

Driver Motorsport, LLC is happy to announce that our EA888 Gen 3 ECU Upgrade is nearly finished. We’re now in the final stages of the process. The calibrations for the common 2.0T engines are finished and entering final beta testing.

With the beginning of a new generation of Audi / VW vehicles comes many technological advances. With the new MQB platform comes a new generation of turbocharged 2.0T. The major changes in this new generation include the following:

As always Driver Motorsport, LLC took it a step further with EA888 Gen 3 ECU Upgrade development. Rather than be first to market, we’d rather produce industry firsts in technological advancements to set the standard. Stay tuned as we start revealing teasers and further updates leading to the eventual release!

The most important thing taken away from this journey into 3.0TFSI ECU Tuning and the SIMOS8.x ECU was that Different =/= Worse.

First and foremost, Driver Motorsport has always been experts with the Bosch ECU. The Bosch ECU is where we make our living. We’ve done hundreds of different ECU software versions and multiple generations of the Bosch ECU across many platforms. We’re at the cutting edge of Bosch ECU Technology and producing ECU Calibrations for the newest Audi / VW vehicles.

However, Up until 5 months ago my knowledge of the modern Continental SIMOS ECU was zilch. Considering I’m responsible for Driver Motorsport‘s ECU Calibrations I knew this was a bridge I was going to have to cross to keep up with the times in VW / Audi ECU tuning. I’ve known that the EA888 Gen 3 was going to be using the SIMOS ECU since 2012 and it’s been in the back of my mind ever since.

I began development on our 3.0 TFSI ECU Tuning offerings 5 months ago. Bar none, the 3.0 TFSI ECU Tuning development was the most fun I’ve had in 2014. Getting into a new engine management system and a higher output engine found in a modern S-Line Audi definitely makes work more enjoyable.

TECH DETAILS –

Engine Calibration:

For obvious reasons, the 3.0 TFSI is much different than any of the other engines found in modern Audi vehicles. From a calibration standpoint, it meant a vastly different approach.

There’s a belief that getting power out of this engine is simple. All of the 3.0 TFSI ECU Tuning solutions will make the same power by simply keeping the RFP (Bypass Valve) from bleeding off boost pressure. In a sense, this is true. I could’ve finished development in a day. As far as increasing power you can receive 90% of what the engine has to give in a few hours.

Since this process took >1 day, that route isn’t the way I went. Outside of the RFP not bleeding off boost pressure, the calibration as a whole can be optimized greatly. You cannot calibrate a way to create more airflow out of the the supercharger. The supercharger’s airflow is capped to a fixed amount per revolution but the volumetric efficiency of the engine is a bit more dynamic. Through phasing of various set points such as lambda, VVT and ignition advance a proper balance was created and the result was large increases in midrange torque. The dyno graph of our 3.0 TFSI ECU Tuning Upgrade will not follow the same shape produced by competitors as a result.

Outside of creating horsepower, majority of development time was spent on improving things that will not show up on a dyno sheet. As far as acceleration enhancements go, I’ve included Left Foot Braking to our production file. There were changes made to the ECU’s torque model. These changes allow the transitions to a positive load request to be more responsive to the driver’s request. Throttle Tip-In timing delay was reduced for a faster Tip-In.

The most important changes made were to the ECU’s logic to dynamic conditions. There are re-calibrations to the ECU’s responses to altitude, IAT, EGT and fuel quality. The ECU will limit permissible airflow based off of IAT. Ignition advance is added or subtracted to base ignition timing based off of IAT. Our boost pressure setpoint is set accurately to what the supercharger can realistically produce to allow the ECU to control it’s response to the vehicle’s changing environment. There is optimized lambda enrichment dependent on EGT. The list goes on…

Reverse Engineering SIMOS8.x -

The SIMOS ECU concerns, were largely unfounded. In fact SIMOS and Bosch are more alike than they are different. When developing the 3.0 TFSI ECU Tuning solution, the biggest hurdle was not related to the ECU type.

The structure of these 2 different ECUs follow the same principles. As an example, all modern ECUs have to relate airflow to torque. Bosch does this through a Load% to a percentage of torque(0-100%). SIMOS does this same task by taking a MAF measured in kg/h and converting it to a measurement of torque in Nm. Ignition timing is still based off of VVT and intake manifold runner flap position. Both ECUs are working with a torque model with principles that are similar. In a sense, it’s merely learning new nomenclature and different takes from 2 separate manufacturers on the same topics.

The future outlook for Driver Motorsport and the next step to modern SIMOS ECU Management is promising. I think that this 3.0 TFSI ECU Tuning Upgrade will reflect that. We’re already working with SIMOS12/18 on the EA888 Gen 3. We have quite a few surprises in store on that front.. That’d be for another blog post

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In summary..

I believe if you’re selling a $1,000 ECU flash for a $50,000 car it goes without saying that it needs to be more advanced than a simple increase in horsepower. I think we accomplished that with the 3.0 TFSI ECU Tuning Upgrade. The expected release of this software is first quarter of 2015.

The release of Driver Motorsport‘s Audi B8.5 / B8 A4 Tuning solution marks the end of a long development phase. We purchased our in-house 2013 Audi B8.5 A4 and went straight to work. Through experience on similar platforms that share similar advancements we started with a major advantage. Our Technical Reach has never been as great and the B8 A4 Tuning Results demonstrate this fact. The Audi B8.5 / B8 A4 Tuning development is our strongest work as a company.

Tested on 3 continents with 4 different fuel grades at different altitudes, our testing is rigorous. A customer can drive their Audi B8 A4 aggressively well above elevation, to extreme hot conditions and fill up with premium fuel anywhere in the world. Driver Motorsport performed testing on every engine code found in the Audi B8.5 / B8 A4. With our in-house car, we measured mechanical performance with advanced logging equipment and physical probes. We exercised due diligence to ensure a complete Audi B8.5 / B8 A4 Tuning Solution.

Our B8 A4 Tuning Solution will be released with the Driver MotorsportDifference Satisfaction Guarantee.

What does this mean? We are so confident in our software we’re making a guarantee it’s the best product on the market. This allows any customer switching from a competitor to receive 10% off of purchase. We guarantee an improvement in performance, measured as dyno results, Pbox figures or drive-ability. **Note -Any gains in performance have to be measured on the same car before and after. Not to be measured relative to a friend’s cars or dyno results from another car on another dyno.**

We’ve put serious time into this product. This allows us to offer independent tests to measure it up to competition. This is our expertise, we’re not an inexperienced hardware company jumping into difficult ECU Calibration with fancy marketing because of how it looks on a spreadsheet. We do not have any bias to sell our customer hardware. The owner of Driver Motorsport, LLC is an enthusiast with one goal of creating superior ECU Software. We have a strong ethos integrity and pursuit of technological excellence. This is why we’re confident to have the best Audi B8.5 / B8 A4 Tuning Solution anywhere.

Here are some customers who took advantage of the Driver Motorsport Difference – Reviews

Our new website is here and brings forth the next chapter for Driver Motorsport, LLC.

Welcome to Driver Motorsport‘s new Blog. This is where new product releases will be announced, and where we will offer an inside look into Driver Motorsport and our growth as Volkswagen & Audi Tuning Specialist. As an enthusiast, I’ve always enjoyed looking at various blogs from other aftermarket automotive brands such as perrinperformance.com or dinancars.com. I firmly believe it is the best way to connect with our customer base, and to bring in fresh and entertaining content. We’ll use this blog to speak about technical topics, relevant news to our industry (Volkswagen / Audi Developments) and to release new products. One of us will be able to respond to comments or field questions, most likely it will be my brother or myself. Now, onto the details of the website…

In our first year of business we’ve grown immensely, we’ve more than doubled in our Volkswagen / Audi Tuning offerings, and have developed an international distribution network. Over time it become more and more apparent we outgrew what our old website had to offer. With the development of this website, our primary goal was to improve the customer experience and follow through with various suggestions we’ve been given (see – Tech Support). It is also bringing many new dimensions to our online home, such as -

Technical Support Page – We set out to improve our customer experience by developing a Technical Support Page that will host installation documents, software for the newer Programmer and gives the customer the ability to send us an email directly off of this page. We plan to add our Vag-Com logging suggestions to this page as well.

Distributor Locator – The Distributor Page has an updated list of our distributors and now includes our international distributor network. We have included an online map, making it easy to search for local support for Driver Motorsport‘s products.

Media – This is still under construction. We’re currently organizing all videos/photos to put into appropriate sections and use as an archive to look back at us attending events and releasing new content going forward.

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Driver Motorsport‘s Product Releases -

With the new website also comes many new and exciting software releases. We recently purchased a 2013 B8.5 A4 that we have used to developed Stage 1 & 2 Software as well as K04 software that is currently in development. Our TTRS Software is something newly released, as well as our planned development into offering a Loba Motorsport Lo500 Calibration. We’re also releasing software for the ROW market as well, which includes 1.8TSI and 1.4TSI software. We’re now one of the few in the world to offer Volkswagen / Audi tuning for the 1.4TSI engine found in Audi / Volkswagen vehicles Model Year 2013+.